Introduction
Transparency, be it as a term, concept, and value or as a norm is omnipresent nowadays in most of the areas of life: in international and domestic politics as well as in the economic and legal fields, civil society, but also in communications, arts, and ethics. In this entry transparency would be analyzed from an instrumental perspective, with wider implications for “good governance,” as a means that allows the “principal” – voter, shareholder, consumer, civil society, etc. – to hold the “agent” – government, management, producer, etc. – accountable. In that sense, transparency serves accountability: a key feature of modern democracies and market economies. We behave differently – more responsibly – if we know whatever we do will be subjected to scrutiny by forces beyond our own control.
The word “transparency” derives from two Latin terms: trans – through, and parere – to appear (Brodbeck, 2004), the English equivalent being “transparent – frank, open, candid, ingenuous,...
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References/Further Readings
Birkinshaw, P. (2006). Transparency as a human right. In C. Hood & D. Heald (Eds.), Transparency: the key to better governance? (pp. 47–57) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Blanton, T. (2002). The world’s right to know. Foreign Policy, 50.
Brodbeck, K. H. (2004). Warum ist Transparenz der einzig richtige Weg zum Erfolg? Vortrag auf dem 2. Finance and Ethics Kongress Diex, 15 p.
Finel, B. I., & Lord, K. M. (Eds.) (2002). Power and Conflict in the Age of Transparency. MacMillan: Palgrave.
Heald, D. (2006). Varieties of transparency. In C. Hood, & D. Heald (Eds.), Transparency: The key to better governance? (pp. 25–43). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hood, C., & Heald, D. (Eds.) (2006). Transparency: The key to better governance? (p. 231). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Florini, A. M. (1999). Does the invisible hand need a transparent glove? The politics of transparency (p. 42). Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, from http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/governance/pdf/florini.pdf, 8.2.2008.
Fung, A., et al. (2004). The political economy of transparency: What makes disclosure policies effective? (p. 48). Cambridge MA: Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Kornai, J. (2003). Honesty and trust in the light of the post-socialist transition. Collegium Budapest, from www.Colbud.hu/honesty-trust.
Marquardt, J. J. (2006). Kant and Bentham on Publicity: Implications for transparency and the liberal democratic peace. Prepared for delivery at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA, p. 17.
Marschall, M. (1999). From states to people. In Civil society at the millennium. West Hartford, CT: CIVICUS, Kumarian Press.
Nolan, L. (1995). First report of the committee on standards in public life (Cm 2850-I). London: HMSO.
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Marschall, M. (2010). Transparency. In: Anheier, H.K., Toepler, S. (eds) International Encyclopedia of Civil Society. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-93996-4_13
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